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What does jihad really mean? What is the Muslim conception of law? What is Islam's stance toward unbelievers? Probing literary and historical sources, Bernard Lewis traces the development of Islamic political language from the time of the Prophet to the present. His analysis of documents written in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish illuminates differences between Muslim political thinking and Western political theory, and clarifies the perception, discussion, and practices of politics in the Islamic world."Lewis's own style, combining erudition with a simple elegance and subtle humor, continues to inspire. In an era of specialization and narrowing academic vision, he stands alone as one who deserves, without qualification, the title of historian of Islam."—Martin Kramer, Middle East Review"A superb effort at synthesis that presents all the relevant facts of Middle Eastern history in an eminently lucid form. . . . It is a book that should prove both rewarding and congenial to the Muslim reader."—S. Parvez Manzor, Muslim World Book Review"By bringing his thoughts together in this clear, concise and readable account, [Lewis] has placed in his debt scholars and all who seek to understand the Muslim world."—Ann K. S. Lambton, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies"[Lewis] constructs a fascinating account of the ways in which Muslims have conceived of the relations between ruler and ruled, rights and duties, legitimacy and illegitimacy, obedience and rebellion, justice and oppression. And he shows how changes in political attitudes and concepts can be traced through changes in the political vocabulary."—Shaul Bakhash, New York Review of Books
E-Book Content
Bernard Lewis I
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The Political Language
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Islam • BERNARD LEWIS The University of Chicago Press CHICAGO AND LONDON
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is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University and Director of the Annenberg Research Institute. Among his many books are The Emergence ofModern Turkey (2dedition, 1968); TheAmbsin History (6th edition, 1980); The Muslim Disconry of Europe (1982); and The JeAIS ofIslam (1984).
BERNARD LEWIS
The University ofChi&ago Press, Chicago 60637 The UniPersi11y ofCbiCllgo Press, Ltd., London © 1988 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 1988 Printed in the United States of America 979695 94 93 92 91 90 89 88 5 4 3 2
The University of Chicago Press wishes to acknowledge assiStance from the Exxon Foundation in the publication of this book.
LIBllAllY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Lewis, Bernard. The political language of Islam. Includes index. 1. Islam and state. 2. Political science-Islamic Empire-History. 3. Political science-Terminology. 4. Symbolism in politics-Islamic countries. I. Title. JC49.L48 1988 297'.1977 87-19222 ISBN 0-226-47692-8
Contents • Preface Vll
Note on Transcription viii
Metaphor and Allusion
1
2
The Body Politic
24
3
The Rulers and the Ruled
43
4
War and Peace
71
5
The Limits of Obedience
91
Notes 117
Index 159
Preface • The main part of this book is based on lectures sponsored by the Exxon Foundation and the Committee on Social Thought of the University of Chicago, and delivered at the University 29 October-4 November 1986. In revising and expanding them for publication, I have maintained the structure of the lectures as delivered, and have tried to keep them in a form which will be accessible to readers interested in history and politics generally, and not only to specialists in Islam and the Middle East. For the latter, I have appended a detailed annotat